Raising awareness: Dangers of pesticides to the health of farmworkers

In United States, the exact number of workers injured each year by pesticides is unknown, because there is no national surveillance system for acute pesticide illness reporting and no surveillance system for tracking chronic illness related to pesticide exposure.

The United States uses about 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides each year. Pesticides are toxic materials – they are developed and used to destroy or prevent growth or infestations of unwanted insects, plants, and other pests in agricultural, commercial, industrial, and household settings.

Latinos in oil industry

The oil and natural gas industry pays wages significantly higher than the national average and can provide tremendous career opportunities for women and minorities, said Jack Gerard, API president and CEO.

There’s a great opportunity in the oil, natural gas, and petrochemical industries for Latinos, but that segment of the population need to step up and apply for those jobs that could pay them family-sustaining wages and more, officials within the industry said.

East Bay Park District announces 2017 wildland fire season

Park supervisors are working with local fire agencies to remove weeds as needed on parklands, and park staff are creating and maintaining a defensible space around park structures to allow firefighters to more safely defend them in the event of a wildfire.

Following the transition into fire season by CAL FIRE, the East Bay Regional Park District is also transitioning and preparing for wildland fire season effective May 15, 2017 in its 120,000 acres of parklands in the counties of Contra Costa and Alameda.